You can tack up one more benchmark for Valley-based achievements in all things equine. On July 27, along with Steffen Peters and Sabine Schut-Kery, one-time Hailey resident Adrienne Lyle tallied up 7,747 points in team dressage, earning Team USA a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Longtime Hailey resident Debbie McDonald, the chef d’equipe (a fancy French word for “team leader” or technical advisor) for the U.S. Dressage Team was also part of the historic feat.
Not since the 1948 Olympics has the U.S. team performed as well as it did this round. Only Germany—a perennial champion—performed better in these games, winning gold. Team USA even bested the powerhouse of Team England.
McDonald is no stranger, though, to Olympic medals. At the Athens games in 2004, she won the team bronze and finished fourth overall individually. The performance dubbed her the “First Lady of American Dressage.”
Lyle’s number 15 ranking on the world stage earned her the right to take her horse Salvino into the individual freestyle competition, as well. However, the horse was withdrawn by Lyle the day after the team event. According to U.S. Equestrian reports, Salvino, a 14-year-old Hanoverian stallion, “did not feel quite like his usual self” before the horse inspection ahead of the freestyle event.
You can view Lyle’s performance here: tinyurl.com/yuufem3d